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Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson died yesterday from heart complications at the age of 42.

Ferguson rose to fame after a series of videos showing him participating in one-on-one backyard brawls for money became an internet sensation. Because of the popularity of the fight videos and his charismatic personality, Ferguson was able to become a professional MMA fighter (for EliteXC, UFC and Bellator), an undefeated professional boxer and even a movie actor. People tuned in to see Ferguson fight and his bouts were always entertaining.

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MMA as we know it today was decades away. It was a time of tough guys. Marciano – Liston – Ali – Frazier – Norton – Foreman. Boxing appeared regularly on television for free. ESPN had a weekly boxing show. NBC – CBS and ABC regularly aired live boxing cards.

Later boxing became an event sport with all eyes on pay-per-view Super Fights. Ali vs Frazier. Hagler vs Hearns. Duran vs Leonard. The top tier of boxers became celebrities and were given mega paydays. Of course the vast majority of boxers made little and often retired battered and poor. There were fewer and fewer big name fighters and the popularity of boxing began to wane.

Then 20 years ago the UFC was born. Although the company struggled at first the popularity of MMA, specifically the UFC took off. The UFC was on tv with a weekly series and regular pay-per-views. Name fighters began to emerge. Fighters that fans loved or hated but would tune in or equally importantly pay to see fight. Many thought the rise of the UFC would be the death of boxing.

Boxing fans had heard that before. So had the folks in the video below. Check it out and we’ll continue after you watch.

The Fighters looks interesting. Will it bring back boxing? Who knows? It could be the start though. And the kicker is Dana “UFC President” White is one of the creative forces behind the show.

Conor McGregor, who fought in the prelims in his first UFC fight, is getting a ton of hype. While it’s true that McGregor won via a unanimous decision, is the hype warranted? Uriah Hall, anyone?

Michael Johnson beat the brakes off of Joe Lauzon. I was really surprised that Lauzon looked so bad. Here’s hoping Lauzon bounces back. Perhaps this fight was the start of really good things for Johnson.

Uriah Hall has really failed to live up to his hype. While Hall looked like he’d be a top contender when he was knocking everyone out and sending them to the emergency room while fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, I thought the talk of him coming off the show and fighting for the title was crazy. It was. Dana White has even gone so far as to say, Hall is not a fighter. My guess is that White will give Hall one more fight to turn things around.

Matt Brown has won six in a row and is calling for a title fight. I’d say he’s earned it.

Yuri Alcantara took Urijah Faber down within seconds of the first round of the fight. Alcantara proceeded to put a beating on Faber and it looked like the fight was on the way to a quick end. Faber showed a warrior’s heart and continued to fight back until he reversed the situation. For the rest of the round and the next two, it was all Faber. Very impressive win for the California Kid.

Alistair Overeem came out and as expected started to put a beating on Travis Browne. Hard shots to the head and knees to the gut rained down on Browne… but he wouldn’t quit. Both men looked tired towards the end of the first round and as Overeem came plodding in, Browne unleashed a front kick that landed square on Overeem’s chin. As Overeem fell to the mat, Browne followed dropping a couple of hard shots before the ref could step in. It will be interesting to see how this plays out… will the win help Browne more than the loss will hurt Overeem?

Chael Sonnen chokes out Mauricio Rua in the first round! Sonnen is one of the most entertaining fighters outside of the ring and he is competitive with the best fighters in two weight classes. Sonnen has to be loving life. I know his fans are.

T.J. Grant vs. Gray Maynard Thoughts: Maynard hasn’t fought in a year and is 34 years old. Is there such a thing as
cage-rust?Prediction: Decision victory to Maynard.

James Te Huna vs Glover Teixeira Thoughts: This fight has a good chance of not going the distance.Prediction: It will be Teixeira that ends it early with a TKO.

Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt
Thoughts: Mark Hunt has a 9-7 record but the KO power to take out anyone. JDS is 15-2 with
similar KO power but is a better grappler, better conditioned fighter, etc. So why are fans split
pretty much down the middle on this one? Because Hunt has the comeback story on his side.
Unfortunately, comebacks don’t end well.Prediction: Decision win to JDS.

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio SilvaThoughts: They fought before and Cain won. Some things never change.Prediction: Cain by TKO victory.

Jon Jones vs. Chael SonnenPrediction: Jones wins via stoppage.Result: Jones won by TKO in the first taking me to 4 -1 for the night.

Final Thoughts:

– As expected, Jones was the dominate fighter. Although Jones won, during the post fight interview Jones looked down and realized his big toe had been badly broken. If the fight had made it to the second round, there is no doubt that it would have been stopped due to the injury’s severity.

To his credit Sonnen had this to say: “If they would have called the match [in Sonnen’s favor because of Jones’ broken toe], I wouldn’t have had any illusions. I knew in those first five minutes who the better fighter was.”

– Jones will need some time to heal before his next fight, but who can challenge him? Anderson Silva? I don’t think so. I think Jones will have to move to heavyweight if he really wants to test himself.

– Sonnen hinted at retirement. I don’t see that happening. He enjoys the challenge of a good fight too much.

– Roy Nelson is back in the title hunt with his third straight KO. Who doesn’t love Big Country… well, except for Dana White?

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Starting at 8pm EST we have the UFC Prelims on FX. This portion of the card includes:

Erik Perez vs. Johnny Bedford

Gian Villante vs. Ovince St. Preux

Sara McMann vs. Shiela Gaff

Rustam Khabilov vs. Yancy Medeiros

Then at 10pm EST we move over to pay-per-view for the main event fights.

Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy

Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes

Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo

Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher

Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen

While I’ll be watching the prelims, my interest is in the main event. So, let’s take a look at my predictions:

Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy
Thoughts: I give the edge to Miller in both striking and grappling.Prediction: Miller with a decision win.

Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes
Thoughts: Davis is the better striker. If it goes to the mat it will be Davis’ wrestling vs Magalhaes bjj.Prediction: Davis with a decision win.

Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo
Thoughts: Anything can happen when heavyweights bang. Nelson has a better chin and one punch KO power. You do the math.Prediction: Nelson wins via KO.

Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher

Thoughts: This fight has generated the most trash talk and should be a very interesting and competitive fight. I give the edge to Bisping’s grappling, and he may need to rely on that. Belcher has KO power and Bisping may discover that if they stay standing.Prediction: Bisping wins via decision.

Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen

Thoughts: If Sonnen wins it will be the greatest upset in MMA history. After tonight Matt Sierra will still hold that record.Prediction: Jones wins via stoppage.

Josh Thompson stuck to his game plan and it paid off. Diaz tried to lure him into a brawl, but Thompson was content to get in, score and get out. When they did stand and mix it up Thompson was getting the best of it. Well played, Josh Thompson.

Matt Brown looked amazing and made what should have been a tougher fight look fairly easy. Brown took some shots, but would not be denied. Can’t wait to see who Matt “The Immortal” Brown fights next.

Mir vs Cormier should have been a better fight. Cormier was content to push Mir against the cage and do little. Mir had no answer. In the third round Mir began to light up Cormier’s midsection with kicks, but by then it was too little, too late.

Henderson and Melendez put on a fight! It was five grueling rounds of back and forth action. There were a lot of boos when the decision was announced. I had it 3-2 for Henderson, but except for two of the judges (who split 2-1 for Henderson), it sounded like everyone else saw it 3-2 for Melendez. Rematch, anyone?

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If you’re a MMA fan, then you’re probably looking forward to a full night of fights.

Starting at 5pm EST we have the UFC Prelims on FX. This portion of the card includes:

T.J. Dillashaw vs. Hugo Viani

Tim Means vs. Jorge Masvidal

Joseph Benavidez vs. Darren Uyenoyama

Ramsey Nijem vs. Myles Jury

Francis Carmont vs. Lorenz Larkin

Chad Mendes vs. Darren Elkins

Then at 8pm EST we switch over to FOX for the main event fights:

Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson

Matt Brown vs. Jordan Mein

Frank Mir vs. Daniel Cormier

Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez

While I’ll be watching the prelims, my interest is in the main event. So, let’s take a look at my predictions:

Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson
Thoughts: I’m not a fan of the Diaz brothers, but they almost always get the job done. Still, I like to root against them. Thomson is a big underdog in this won. I like pulling for the ‘dog. So since I’m not betting..My Prediction:Thompson with a decision win.

Matt Brown vs. Jordan Mein
Thoughts: Brown is tough as they come and on a four fight win streak… yet he is the underdog in this fight. Well, you know I like pulling for the ‘dog.My Prediction:Brown with a decision win.

Frank Mir vs. Daniel Cormier
Thoughts: Frank Mir is one of my all-time favorite fighters. Mir is a HUGE underdog tonight. Cormier is an Olympic class wrestler with knockout power. Mir has struggled with big punchers, so he’ll want to take the fight to the ground. Once there, he’ll find himself waging war with an Olympic class wrestler. It looks like a tough night for Mir. Of course he is one of my favorite fighters so…My Prediction: Mir wins via stoppage.

Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez

Thoughts: Henderson is slightly favored in what should be the fight of the night. Both men are warriors and I expect this one to go the distance.My Prediction: Henderson wins via decision.

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Dana White, like most MMA fans (I say most, because if your fighter lost you might feel differently), must have loved the fights Saturday night. We were presented with an action-packed card that started at 5pm, with the preliminary matches airing on FX, and the main card on FOX immediately following at 8pm.

The FX fights included:

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 5 pm ET)

Yves Edwards winning by TKO in the first over Jeremy Stephens

Raphael Assuncao winning by unanimous decision over Mike Easton

Ramsey Nijem earning a unanimous decision win over Joe Proctor

Daron Cruickshank won by KOover Henry Martinez in round 2

Abel Trujillo won by TKO over Marcus LeVesseur in round 2

Dennis Siver won by unanimous decision over Nam Phan

Then the main event UFC on FOX 5. Here’s the results with my predictions:

Rory MacDonald vs. B.J. PennPrediction: Penn loses steam and the fight.Result: Penn lost by unanimous decision making me 1-1 for the night.

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” RuaPrediction: If Gustafsson can weather the storm, he should earn the decision.
Result: Gustafsson won by unanimous decision making me 2-1 for the night.

Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz for the title!Prediction: Henderson by decision.
Results: Henderson won by unanimous decision making me 3-1 for the night.

Final Thoughts:

Abel Trujillo is a beast. He repeatedly stuffed takedowns by an undefeated Olympic Gold medal winning wrestler. His punches could take down walls and he never tired. This is a kid to watch.

Daron Cruickshankhas skills. He was throwing punches with evil intentions, but also brutal kicks and spinning backfists. I look to see him on the main card and fighting tougher competition soon.

Mike Swick didn’t look healthy. He still has ground skills, but looked like he had a ways to go to be back to his former self.’

Matt Brown’s win streak continues. He displayed a nice mix of punches and grappling in earning the win over Mike Swick.

BJ Penn needs to either get serious and go back down to 155 or retire. No more announcing he’s retired and then taking months off only to say, he wants to be considered the best pound-for-pound fighter and is coming back to show the world… only to lose.

Rory MacDonald owned BJ Penn last night. MacDonald has a bright future. I would caution him against showboating. Not only is it foolish, it will quickly turn the fans against him. MacDonald has a bright career ahead of him. After his total destruction of BJ Penn, MacDonald called out Carlos Condit [the only person to ever beat MacDonald]. Dana, make the fight!

Man, did Benson Henderson look great! He dominated every aspect of his fight against Nate Diaz last night, easily winning every round. That’s not to say that Diaz was not in competitive. He was. Diaz is always dangerous. A couple of times Diaz was able to lure Henderson into a bad position, but each time Henderson found a way out and continued to dominate the round. Big Congrats to Ben Henderson!